DWP may complete Sunset pipe repairs Friday or Saturday

Water continues to flow into a sinkhole from the broken water main on Sunset Boulevard near UCLA, Wednesday, July 30, 2014.
Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power workers expect to complete repairs on broken pipes under Sunset Boulevard by late Friday or early Saturday, officials said.

After that, city crews could fill the crater from Tuesday’s rupture of a major pipeline, but officials late Thursday said it could take at least another day to complete the roadwork repair. ►

The goal is to let all the water and traffic flow again to the busy area around UCLA, which was inundated with 20 million gallons of water.

DWP crews were still excavating and shoring up Sunset Thursday, while some workers fabricated and assembled custom fittings necessary to repair the 30-inch and 36-inch trunk lines.

Water flow was finally shut off about 9 p.m. Wednesday. Engineers considered plugging the pipe with a large balloon, but they were able to shut off the water by adjusting 11 valves, DWP spokesman Joe Ramallo said.

Crews will be analyzing the broken pipe, Ramallo said, but he couldn’t say when they expect to know what caused the break.

Meanwhile, DWP representatives were at the site Thursday to process damage claims. The claim form is also at ladwpnews.com, under Hot Topics.

UCLA officials estimated that as many as 900 vehicles may be in the flooded garages, and it was likely to be Friday until the vehicles could be towed.

Besides some brief outages Tuesday, water service was not interrupted, and the water is safe to drink, according to the DWP.

The flooding episode damaged property but didn’t injure anybody until Wednesday, when two workers were treated at a hospital and released after being exposed to carbon monoxide fumes from a generator. They were pumping water from UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, authorities said.

City News Service contributed to this report.

About the Author

Mike Reicher is an investigative reporter for the Los Angeles News Group with a focus on government accountability. Reach the author at mike.reicher@langnews.com
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